The Sisterhood of Anne of Green Gables Is Ready for Anne’s Next Chapter

Since her 1908 debut, L.M. Montgomery’s Anne “with an e” Shirley has been a kindred spirit to readers throughout the world. Anne of Green Gables, the first entry in an eight-book series, has sold more than 50 million copies and been translated into 20 languages, catapulting Anne—and her creator—to iconic stature. Montgomery’s work has been re-imagined into dozens of films, plays, musicals, Web shows, television movies, and radio dramas—all of which take creative liberties regarding her fiercely cherished characters and plots.

Now Netflix and CBC’s Anne with an E is throwing its flower crown into the adaptation ring. Purists will immediately want to compare this eight-episode series, which debuts May 12, to director Kevin Sullivan’s wildly popular 1985 CBC television mini-series, starring Megan Follows as perhaps the definitive Anne. And though Anne with an E decidedly takes its own path, bathing its landscapes in Jane Campion-inspired tumult and starkly period-appropriate costumes and sets, it invites the comparison to Sullivan’s opus, too: executive producer Miranda de Pencier is a veteran of the 1985 production, and well aware of the large legacy she’s now shepherding

“Anne's never been done as a series, and she is needed right now,” says de Pencier, who played Anne’s mean girl arch-nemesis Josie Pye in the 1985 mini-series and its sequels before moving on to work behind the camera. She and writer Moira Walley-Beckett, a veteran of Breaking Bad and Flesh and Bone, set out to re-imagine Anne by searching for themes “between the pages” of Montgomery’s material. Their adaptation tackles the author’s references to bullying and abuse, loneliness, feminism, sexuality, and xenophobia far more overtly than any Anne thus far.

“One of the things that was really important to Moira and me was to keep the spirit of L.M. Montgomery alive,” says de Pencier. “We’re trying to create story lines that would have existed if she had written more pages.”

Tasked with filling the formidable shoes of the title character, de Pencier had first-hand memory of the actress who had already defined Anne for a generation. “Megan [Follows] is an extraordinary actress, and she did such an incredible job that she’s seared in the minds of so many. How do you come up with something new and fresh that people are also going to love?” The answer was a global search, one that winnowed five finalists out of 1,889 girls—including 15-year-old Amybeth McNulty, a Canadian raised in Donegal, Ireland.

“My grandmother got the phone call,” says McNulty. “I could not go and pick it up, I was too nervous. And she was like, ‘Yeah, they want you.’ I just started crying and screaming and running all over the house.” Overwhelming as it was, McNulty adopted a decidedly Anne-like attitude about accepting the part. “I just kind of thought, ‘You know what, it's my interpretation. I'm just going to give it a go. They must have picked me for some reason.’ ”

Looking back now, Follows—now starring in and directing The CW’s historical drama Reign— insists she just saw Anne “as a person,” albeit a special one. Her Anne was someone who wanted “to be accepted on the merits of her character and her intelligence, up against this society that was very rigid and judgmental—someone who was a free spirit outside of that. And she happened to be a girl, which made it all the more striking.”

De Pencier had an even closer personal connection to draw on when it came to casting Dalila Bela as Anne’s “bosom friend” Diana Barry: Schuyler Grant, who played Diana in the 1985 version, has remained friends with de Pencier since they met on-set as teenagers. The co-stars are still recognized and adored by fans—most recently, when they were at a yoga retreat together. “Schuyler and I felt like rock stars for a weekend,” says de Pencier.

De Pencier tried to convince Grant—who’s since retired from acting and now owns Kula Yoga Project and co-founds Wanderlust, a series of worldwide multi-day yoga and music festivals—to make an appearance in the new series. “Miranda did at one point tell me I should play Miss Stacy,” says Grant. “But I told her I wouldn't come out of retirement. Maybe when there’s the next iteration in 20 years, I’ll play Marilla. I would definitely come out of a very long retirement for that one.”

As for Bela, who was one of two finalists flown to Toronto to do a chemistry test with McNulty, she didn’t need Grant on set to feel the pressure of fan expectations on her performance. “I did feel a little bit nervous about portraying Diana correctly,” Bela recalls. “I needed to take her to another level while still keeping her recognizable. But that's the beauty of playing an iconic character that people love: making them fall in love with her again.”

And finally, Walley-Beckett tasked de Pencier with casting her own Josie successor: 15-year-old Miranda McKeon, who won the role with a self-made tape she recorded in her basement. “It was pretty amazing to have Miranda—the other Miranda—on set,” says McKeon. “Beyond the fact that she played Josie Pye, she took an interest in me and all the kids. She and I definitely got teased about having the same [first] names and playing the same part.”

It is ironic but somehow appropriate that de Pencier, who tormented Anne as Josie Pye, is now, in Grant’s words, “the holder of the lineage.” That lineage, as Anne would say, appears poised to carry on, “as long as the sun and moon shall endure.”

“L.M. Montgomery was writing in a time period where there were not a lot of women’s voices being heard nearly loudly enough nor often enough—and yet somehow she gave voice to a brave little girl whose loud and important voice is still resonating,” says de Pencier. “I’m just thrilled that as woman producers today, we can continue to push the strength of L.M. Montgomery’s spirit through our Anne Shirley. Anne with an E is definitely our feminist rallying cry.”